This invention relates to the removal and installation of sleeve bearings, such particularly as in large diesel engines supporting the camshaft.
History of the Prior Art
In the past, the removal and installation of camshaft bearings in large engines, such as diesel engines, has been extremely difficult and expensive. A bearing puller was developed to provided substantially improved removal of bearings. Such puller is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,04 issued Nov. 25, 1986, to John B. Gathright and Grady C. Gathright, co-inventors of the apparatus and method of the present application. While the development of such patented bearing puller substantially improved the technology of servicing internal combustion engines, particularly large diesel engines, there still remained the need for a system for removal and installation of sleeve bearings using the patented device.
Prior art patents showing devices for sleeve bearing removal and installation include U.S. Pat. No. 2,317,405 to Rutten, U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,903 to Potter, U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,377 to German, U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,549 to Hamilton. The Rutten patent requires the use of a rod on which mandrels are mounted equal in number to the number of sleeve bearings to be manipulated including distinctly different structure from that presently disclosed by the Applicants and a different procedure of removal and installation of sleeve bearings. The Rutten patent also does not disclosure structure or procedure permitting the extraction and installation of a rear end bearing from an engine block where the block remains in the frame and the bearing must be approached from internal of the engine. The Potter patent does not show a sleeve bearing puller and installer and the use of a notched rod, as disclosed and claimed by Applicants Further, the German and Hamilton patents, similar to the Rutten patent, do not disclose the type of sleeve bearing puller utilized by Applicants and the structure and method of Applicant for using such a sleeve bearing device to remove and install bearings.